Both Gary Trent Jr and Zach Collins require contract extensions next season. What size extension are these Portland Trail Blazers players likely to get?
Portland Trail Blazers young players Zach Collins and Gary Trent Jr. are both in the last year of their rookie deals. In Collins case, his agent and the Blazers didn’t actively pursue an extension this off-season, deciding that they would focus on this next season when Collins has had a healthy year to truly showcase his talents.
His agent made it clear that the Blazers really valued Collins and that he had a future with this team.
In Trent’s case, because he was a second-round pick, his rookie contract is just three years long, so he will take this season to improve his stock and play his first full season in an NBA rotation.
Both players will take this season to work on their value, and then they will hit restricted free agency in 2021. When looking back on other rookie extensions, Neil Olshey has always let his players hit restricted free agency, and then let the market decide what they are worth.
Only Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum have received extensions before their final year, and these were both max contract guys.
Olshey has a clear path that he sets for the likes of Collins and Trent so that they can work through these contracts in a year’s time.